Pages

“They kept asking me, ‘Where’s the doggie, Daddy?’” he said. “I thought, ‘I can’t keep doing this.’ I can’t do it to my kids. I can’t do it to the dog.”

Pickett left the world of dogfighting permanently. Later, he volunteered for End Dogfighting in Chicago after hearing about the program from a friend. Eventually, the HSUS hired him as a full-time outreach worker.

Pickett said of the youths he counsels, “They don’t have anyone like me to show them that there’s more to their dog than dogfighting,” he said. The free classes in agility, obedience and conformation help the youths bond with their dogs as pets.

“And they value the dogs more,” said Pickett, who takes the youths to amateur agility events as spectators. “It’s like their eyes open, and they go, ‘Wow, look what you can teach a dog to do.’ Then, once they train their own dog, it’s like he goes to a different level.”

Pages:

Pages

Giving L.A. Kids a New Perspective
Through a new program tailored especially to them, Los Angeles young people are learning firsthand about animal rights, animal safety and spaying and neutering from an attorney who specializes in animal abuse cases.

Bob Ferber, a prosecutor with the Los Angeles City Attorney’s office, goes to a school site each month to teach and interact with students, as well as assign community service projects that they’ll work on throughout the semester. Companion animals accompany Ferber on these school visits. The program is sponsored by After-School All-Stars, Los Angeles, an after-school program provider, and Voice for the Animals, a nonprofit animal protection organization.

“Inner-city youths [see] stray animals on a daily basis,” says Ferber. “Sadly, [they] form many of their opinions based on the behavior of these antisocial (actually defensive) strays, as well as the guard- or junkyard dogs they pass on their way to school each day. I view this [program] as a way to potentially end animal abuse and euthanasia by educating children in the communities where the majority of it originates.”

In December, After-School All-Stars students had an opportunity to visit Los Angeles Animal Services’ South Central Shelter, where they saw strays and unwanted animals who were waiting for homes.

“We need as many people involved in this as possible—as many people willing to help,” Ferber says. “You will find that the students do care about the animals, and maybe through empathizing, they will fully understand their part in [affecting] the outcome through prevention.”

In 2001, with support from Los Angeles city attorney Rocky Delgadillo, Ferber created the LA City Attorney Animal Protection Unit, which specializes in animal welfare. He has also implemented a wide range of animal welfare projects, including humane education programs, legislation, serviceanimal protection programs and systemic changes in law enforcement to successfully enforce animal welfare laws.